Archive for the 'Game Summary' Category

In an action packed game, topped off with Brent Burns’ first career hat trick, the Sharks were able to defeat the surging St. Louis Blues. The Sharks were able to jump out to an early lead with a goal just 35 seconds into the game by Brent Burns. Another goal by Burns, along with goals by Thornton and Wingels gave the Sharks a 4 goal lead at the end of the first period.

But, as has been a characteristic of the Sharks this season, the Sharks relaxed coming into the second and allowed the Blues to claw their way back into the game. After scoring 4 goals in the first period, the Sharks didn’t score again until late in the third period. In between their 4th and 5th goals the Sharks allowed St. Louis to score 3 goals, giving the Blues a chance. Fortunately, the Sharks were able to get goals from Burns and Hertl to grab a 6-3 victory.

Interestingly, the Sharks are 11-0-1 when Brent Burns is in the lineup, which may not surprise fans after Burns’ 4 point performance today. In contrast, the Sharks are 6-3-5 when Burns is not in the lineup.

What surprised me most about this game though was Braun’s selection for 3rd star of the game. I did not feel he deserved to be the third star of the game, and was actually at fault for St. Louis’ 3rd goal:

On this play, as the only defenseman back, it is Braun’s job to not allow a pass across the ice to the other forward breaking in, in this case Jaden Schwartz. This would allow Niemi to square up to Vladimir Sobotka and try to cut down his angle. Niemi does this, but Braun fails to do his job, allowing Schwartz score, threatening the Sharks lead. This isn’t a very complicated concept for defensemen, as this skill is taught to youth hockey players. Braun, as an NHL defensemen, should know that he is defending a 2-on-1 and know that his role is to block the pass and let Niemi take the shot. So why he is then given 3rd star of the game after giving St. Louis a goal is beyond me.

Despite this, the Sharks did many things well this game:

Shots – The Sharks were able to get 32 shots on goal this game.

Blocked Shots – The Sharks were able to block 27 shots this game.

The Sharks were able to come out strong this game and put St. Louis in an early hole.

What the Sharks need to work on for next game:

The Sharks need to be more disciplined. They were short-handed 7 times this game, but were able to survive killing 6 of 7 penalties.

The Sharks had too many giveaways. They recorded 18 giveaways this game.

The Sharks need to play all 3 periods. They came out strong in the first period, but slacked off in the second and the first half of the third, allowing the Blues to climb back into the game.

Next the Sharks will take on the Anaheim Ducks at 7:30 (PT) at the SAP Center in San Jose. This is a big game for the Sharks, as they are tied for 1st in the Pacific Division with Anaheim at 39 points.

“Little Joe” Pavelski showed that he is anything but little when he won the game for the Sharks in Vancouver. Leading up to this point, both teams had many chances, which amounted to a thrilling game, but little scoring. The Sharks were able to get two goals early on from Scott Gomez and Adam Burish, who were finally able to get “Off the Schnyde”. Gomez scored his first goal as a Shark in the first period off of a slapshot from the high slot. Burish scored his first goal in teal while the Canucks were on the power play early in the second period, after he received a nice pass from Brad Stuart, which sent him on a breakaway. Unfortunately, the Sharks weren’t able to hold their lead and gave up two goals in the last 6:30 of the second period. After these goals, none were scored until the shootout, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some good scoring chances. The last 10 minutes of the third period were action packed and full of chances, but neither team was able to score. Through overtime, no goals were scored either, which forced the Sharks to participate in their 7th shootout of the year. The Sharks, who entered the shootout with a record of 3-3, faced the Canucks, who entered with a shootout record of 2-4. Fortunately, with goals from Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski, the Sharks were able to win the shootout on the road, and get themselves prepared.

What the Sharks Did Well:

Special teams – The Sharks were able to shut down the Canucks power play and not let them score. Not only were they able to be strong on the penalty kill, they were able to generate some offense down a man too, in which they got a key short-handed goal from Adam Burish.

Contribution From Unusual Players – The Sharks were able to get 2 goals from players who hadn’t scored all season, Adam Burish and Scott Gomez. These players not only got their 1st goals of the season, but they got their 1st goals as Sharks. The assists on these goals also came from players that don’t normally contribute offensively; Brad Stuart and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Stuart had assists on both Gomez’s and Burish’s goals, while Vlasic had an assist on Gomez’s goal.

What the Sharks Didn’t Do Well:

Forechecking – The Sharks weren’t able to pressure the Canucks defense and create some offensive zone turnovers. Instead of having the puck in the offensive zone and trying to set up a scoring chance, because they weren’t able to create a turnover, the Sharks were forced to play defense instead of offense. The Canucks had a strong forecheck and they created many offensive zone turnovers.

Turnovers – The Sharks had several turnovers, one of which directly caused them a goal. Even if a turnover didn’t cost the Sharks a goal, they still forced the Sharks to scramble and try to get the puck back, instead of taking the puck up the ice and trying to set up a play of their own.

Didn’t Take Away Time – The Sharks allowed the Canucks to take the puck into the zone and set up plays, instead of pressuring them and causing turnovers. When good teams are allowed to take the zone and set up a play, they will make something happen, which the Canucks were able to do.

The Sharks were able to use their special teams to their advantage (excluding the short-handed goal they gave up) and put 2 powerplay goals in the net to give them a much needed win. After losing 10 of their last 12 before entering Saturday night’s game. The Sharks were able to win their first game against Nashville this year, and were able to do so in regulation, the first of three games this year between two teams that ended in regulation.

The Sharks were able to defeat the Predators 2-1, with powerplay goals from Dan Boyle and Joe Pavelski, moving their powerplay to 12th in the NHL with a 17.89% conversion rate. Although their powerplay gave the Sharks 2 goals, they also gave up a short-handed goal to Gabriel Bourque. Despite this goal, the Sharks were able to hold off the Predators and get their 10th win of the season. With this win, the Sharks move up to 2nd in the Pacific Division, trailing the red hot Ducks by 8 points.

After this win, the Sharks prepare to take on the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday March 5th at 7:00pm in Vancouver. The Canucks have just 2 more points than the Sharks with a record of 11-5-4, compared to the Sharks 10-6-4. The Sharks have only faced the Canucks once this season, winning the matchup 4-1.

Before the Sharks and Canucks play, the Coyotes, who trail the Sharks by only one point, are scheduled to take on the Anaheim Ducks on Monday March 4th in Phoenix. The Coyotes and the Ducks played on March 2nd in Phoenix, with the Desert Dogs winning 5-4 in a shootout. Either way this game turns out, the Sharks see benefits and repercussions from this game. If the Coyotes win, then the Sharks fall behind the Coyotes by one point and fall to 3rd in the Pacific. But if the Coyotes win, then the Sharks have an opportunity on Tuesday to gain ground on the division leading Ducks, and can reduce the gap from 8 to 6 points, if the Coyotes win in regulation. If the Ducks win, the Sharks won’t be able to gain ground on the Ducks, but if the Sharks defeat the Canucks, they can put some distance between themselves and the Coyotes, who only trail the Sharks by one point.

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After losing two strait, the Sharks decided that they weren’t going to lose another game. They jumped out to an early 3-0 lead at the end of the first. The score stayed that way through the second also. At this point it seemed fairly easy for the Sharks but, of course, nothing important in life comes easy. Just after a minute into the period, the Canucks scored. But even after this the Sharks still seemed like they would win, especially since the Sharks scored a powerplay goal just five minutes after the Canucks scored, giving the Sharks their three goal lead back. And as the game progressed the Sharks seemed more and more likely to win. But 11 minutes into the third things took a turn for the worse when Jamie McGinn took a five minute major and a game misconduct for boarding*, his second game misconduct of the 2011 playoffs.

That means that the Canucks got five minutes to score as many goals as they could in five minutes and they still wouldn’t lose their powerplay. In those five minutes the Canucks scored two goals making the score 4-3. Luckily the Sharks were able to fight off the surging Canucks to win the game 4-3.

* Today the NHL reviewed McGinn’s hit and didn’t give him any further discipline.

Game 6 was an important game for the Sharks series. They went into the game with a 3-2 lead on the Kings and a chance to be the only NHL team remaining from California. And they capitalized on that opportunity and are now advancing to the second round to play either the Blackhawks or Red Wings, which is dependent on the outcome of the Vancouver vs Chicago series. That series is playing in a game 7 tonight.

The Sharks won their series in overtime at the Staples Center in L.A. Joe Thornton scored the series winning goal right after killing a five minute major that was called on Jamie McGinn The Sharks last season beat the Avalanche in game 6 of the first round at the Pepsi Center only one day before the Sharks win last night.

Today the Sharks defeated the red hot Bruins in the Bruins own rink. Not only did the Sharks beat the Bruins but they shut out the Bruins two to zero. The Sharks got a power play, backhanded top shelf goal by Couture in his first game back at 7:22 in the first. They also got an empty net goal from Setoguchi with only three seconds left in the game.

Neimi got a shutout stopping all 26 shots that came his way and Thomas let in two goals (or one if you don’t consider the empty net goal) stopping 26 out of 28 shots (or 27 if you don’t consider the empty net goal). Next the Sharks will play the Capitals on Tuesday at four in Washington. With their win today the Sharks are now in fourth place in the Western Conference. The Capitals are in fifth in the Eastern Conference. Go Sharks!

After scoring five strait goals, one in the second and the other four coming in the third to defeat the coyotes, the Sharks carried the momentum and offensive surge they had gained into the game against the Ducks. The came out strong scoring three goals in the first period. The first from Heatley just fourteen seconds into the game, the second from Eager at 7:34 and the third a slapshot from the point that was buried into the goal by Demers at 11:15.

In the second the Sharks were outscored two to one. The Sharks lone goal was scored in between the Ducks two goals and was a power play goal scored at 15:39 by Clowe. The Ducks also scored a power play goal at 17:52 and another goal at 5:44. The score was now four to two and the Ducks had all the momentum coming into the third. The Sharks would have to hold off the Ducks in the third to get the win.

And they did exactly that. The Sharks didn’t score in the third but they held off the Ducks and kept them to only one goal in the third. That goal came at 5:36. With those two wins the Sharks are now in second in the Pacific Division passing up the Ducks with their victory and they are in fifth in the Western Conference. The will face the third seeded Bruins on Saturday. Go Sharks!

The Sharks came out against the Red Wings with a mission. That was to beat the Wings and gain revenge for their loss the last time the two teams faced off against each other. And the Sharks successfully achieved that mission winning 5 to 2. The Sharks had goals from Thornton, Wallin, Couture, Heatly, and Couture again. Antti Niemi started for the Sharks and faced 27 shots with a .926 save %.

The Sharks took 35 shots against Howard and scored five. The penalties from the Sharks were by Joslin x2, Couture, Thornton, Mayers, and Wallin. The Shark and player with the most ice time in the game is Dan Boyle with 25:27 of ice time.

Even though the power was restored to the HP Pavilion about 6 hours before game time, the power wasn’t returned to the Sharks lineup. The Sharks came out flat and stayed flat the whole game. They ended up losing 5-3 to the Detroit Red Wings.The goals scored for the Sharks were from Dany Heatley, Benn Ferriero, and Ryan Clowe. The Sharks took only one less shot with 28 compared to the Wings 29. They Sharks also had twice as many penalty minutes with 8 and over twice as many giveaways with 17 as Detroit only had 8.